Who is the most overrated fighter of all time?

George Foreman

 

Fair point. Pryor fight at 140 at that time wasn't gonna give Duran any more notibility than he already had. Duran had been the #1 p4p in the world for several years. Coming from that perspective the Welterweights were the best option financially mainly but also he was tired of making 135. Arguello did eventually come up to lightweight. That would have been a superfight, good $ all that. Timing there, it's hard to fault Duran for electing to face the very good former champion Carlos Palomino and then test himself against Cuevas or Ray Leonard. Duran took the hardest, most risky route to glory.

 

every boxer past the 1960s

 

Duran's team offered Pryor $750k around the Blackmoore fight and Pryor turned it down. Pryor admits as much in the post-fight interview, saying that he wanted to focus on 135/140 and that it wasn't enough money.

In regard to Cervantes, almost no one genuinely cared about the junior/super divisions back then. They were seen as they should be: stopover classes where lesser men who couldn't cut it in a traditional divisions made their home. Hell, even when Benitez won the Lineal Championship against Cervantes he campaigned more at 147 than 140. Don't get me wrong, Pryor or Cervantes would have been nice touches to his resume (he almost surely beats both), but welterweight had bigger threats and Duran chose greater glory.

I would have loved to have seen Duran-Arguello at 135, however.

 

I wish the Arguello fight came off. There were some great fights for Duran at 140... Arguello, Pryor, Cervantes.. How about Bruce Curry? That was such a great time in all weights..

 

Well anything which happened with Pryor or Cervantes or Arguello would not compare to the Leonard fights in 1980... Although Arguello as a purist boxing fan, would have been fascinating and I don't know the outcome. Arguello's right is a problem, yet Duran to me was stronger physically and was always a little ahead of Alexis in weight..

 

It’s just me. I’ve never been a Frazier fan. Great wins? Yes, he’s got one. But I see him as a limited heavyweight fighter. Size, speed, and lack of a jab (or right hand for the most part) hinders him for me. He benefited from Ali’s exile, and let’s face it, he didn’t defeat a prime Ali only three fights back from a 3.5 year layoff. When he faced Ali twice more, he didn’t get it done. He was never the same after George destroyed him. I like Joe. I think he was great for the fight game and a great champ. I’m just not that high on him. Others think he was an all time great and a top 5 HW. That’s fine.

 

Jack Johnson

 

Mike Tyson

He got worked by Douglas and couldn't separate from Razor Ruddock, and lost badly to the best two fighters on his resume.

People act like Tyson was the greatest fighter in the history of the planet, but he beat an over the hill Holmes, an inactive and past his prime Spinks, a game but not great Tony Tucker, and a bunch of historically below average fighters.

Ruddock pushed him to his limits, then promptly got worked by Tommy Morrison and embarrassed by Lennox.

When people talk about Tyson, they're thinking about the Marvis Frazier, Trevor Berbick, Pinklon Thomas Tyson, not the actual Tyson that got his face realigned by Douglas, Holyfield, and Lennox.

 

To be fair, Berbick and Thomas were ranked pretty high when Tyson fought them.

Okay, nobody thought they were great fighters, and Thomas was already considered to be prematurely well on the decline, but they were rated high. And Tyson obliterated them really.

Tyson IS overrated. And always was, he was superbly marketed from very early on. But he did prove himself against most of the best available fighters, for a couple of years at least. Before Douglas beat him, no one really gave him a close fight (except for perhaps Tillis, when he was just 19 still), and he beat a lot of the rated men of the time.
Yes, it was a weak period in the division, but still, he stood out above every other fighter, up until Douglas anyway.

 

Did you know anyone actually picking clever Trevor to win? I sure didn't. He did well against boxers but the only hitter he fought got him out of there quick. And here was a guy like tyson and those fast hands and combos and Berbick was going to try and maul him with that pressure style of his. So he'd get hit walking into punches from a Tyson.

And what happens? Trevor tries going toe to toe with the guy. And he's giving up a difference of about 300% in handspeed. and about the same % in punching power.

Gambling wise I thought it was free money and on par with the Marvis Frazier and Carl Williams matchups.

 

I agree Tyson was overrated, he was damn good though. He was past his best when beaten by Lewis, Holyfield & was distracted by outside influences later in his career.
Most boxers have been overrated for decades, it's the marketing machine, PPV, bums on seats etc etc.

 

That's true. Berbick was unpredictable though, and had dumbfounded the odds before. So coupled with the fact that Tyson was still relatively unproven, his first really big fight, I guess some people might have seen Berbick as a live underdog.

Berbick was a mediocre fighter really. It shows how low the division was falling that Berbick was arguably #1 at the time.

 

in the now it would be AJ

 

He definitely waited for Hagler. An eye injury is serious no matter what. It's very possible to still be bothered by it regardless of healing. Julian Jackson experienced the same. Norris beating a shot Leonard proves what?

Just be objective and say you hate Leonard.